the time hoarder learns her lesson: a children's room tour.

there is a heartache that comes with change. even good change.
a heart wrench that explodes when time tumbles forward and you either tumble with it or dig your heels in and fight the future.
there are moments i am arching backwards with every taut clinging muscle...
but the future arrives with or without my permission.
and then again i long for the future as i long for the past.

i am a time hoarder.
i am.
i savor the moment and then immediately try to gather them up, not let one slip through my clenched fingers... as if i have hands strong enough to hold all those moments anyway.

i am a slow learner i am afraid.
i wrestle with being a stay-er or being a go-er.
being one of those people 'from somewhere' or one of those people 'from everywhere'.
my heart loves both.
how can my heart love both??

but she does.
sometimes i fear my boldness went the way of my blondness...
swallowed up somewhere in the space between college and covered in children.

it's time.
it's time to remember.
road less traveled baby.
she's coming for me.

there is no shame in being a stay-er. there is a beautiful life of memory and meaning,  elbow deep in place and people who know you.
the shame comes in the hiding. in the shushing. in covering of ears and making loud noises to drown out the whispered hush of a call.
i could say no. you could say no.
He leaves us choice.
and yet my no is my shame and my yes is my freedom.
whatever fear lies on the other side of that yes is a fear held in the hand of the one that called me.  
the one that knows me.
the one that loves me.

i can say yes to that.
........................................................................

and now, completely unrelated.  but not.
the road less traveled will be meandering away from  some of my very favorite spots in the whole wide world and taking me into, in all probability, a not so amazing rental.
we are going to rock it. it's going to be great.
but for now, we're going to relish the little home we have made.

so i bring to you..

the children's room.

3 kids. ALL their toys. one room.

it can be done. :)

we built the hanging beds suspended from the ceiling to keep the floor space open and free for playing. and wrestling. 

and karate chopping. 

and general merry making.

the bookcases are a set i had growing up, customized with a few connecting shelves to give a built in feel.

p.s... it goes without saying that my kids pick their own clothes right?? 

it fosters creativity. and independence. and lots of laundry. but sometimes i get to stay in bed and stare at the ceiling for 5 extra minutes so i'm okay with that. :)

 the hanging double drum shade was a l950's find in an antique store.  i love the detail.

she wanted to move to maryland too, so i said she could.  

the curtain fabric was my starting point for the room. it's 'hoot' by moda fabric.

once i found it,  i was just sure a girls and boys room could marry each other and have a happy little lovechild. :)

we whipped up a few of ana white's pallet book holders for each bed and a reading lamp for the late night bookworms i'm raising. :)

 grayson actually has slept in the 8ft bed for the last two years..

he's never fallen out or off his ladder. i think it is just high enough he has a healthy amount of fear and keeps his jiggles in check.

he loves it up there in his nest. :)

each bed is rated to 700 lbs. it could hold our whole family... supposedly. :)

 the cables are run up to an eye bolt in the ceiling which is screwed into a long 4x4 spanning across the attic joists. i kept their bedding really simple by buying a vintage king chenille bedspread and cutting and hemming it in half. 

they are also lag bolted into all the studs. 

it is amazing how little give there is at all. 

when we were done nate and i took a deep breath and hung on them together to test them out. i was certain we were about to bring the attic down on top of ourselves. 

we didn't.

the children cheered.

we exhaled.

the beds were done.

a fun tradition we started was buying a vintage license plate from each state we have taken a family vacation in. most of them i have gotten off ebay. i am already two states behind... but i'm picky.

the rules are it has to have the whole state name spelled out so the kids can learn to read them. it has to have good colors, be nice and graphic,  and it has to be older than me.

except for florida... i bought that one because it was the county and design year we moved there and it gives me warm fuzzies. :)

the fish eye star mirrors were some of our wedding decorations and have survived the last ten years with us. ari's bed has a special vintage yoyo pillow that we found together in on of our favorite shops, and the tooth pillow that i made for her.

 

i have so appreciated the bookshelves holding all their toys. 

there are so many little cubbies that there are perfect places for all our little treasures.

  good looking storage is where it's at.

old suitcases can hold balls and blocks.

an old metal lunchbox holds all the little cars.

all of the labeled toy boxes are cardboard file boxes with lids that i hot glued and mod podged drop cloth material on.

they were not hard. 

BUT

they took so long, and were so tedious, that i regularly wanted to poke myself in the eye just so i wouldn't have to do it anymore.

but i do love them now.

especially the little chalkboard sticky labels. :)

the doll furniture that was under my christmas tree the year i turned 5. 

a lot of babies have been tucked in and sung to under that canopy...

  

the magic of an old fashioned nursery...  is in the children who love it.

 girls and boys. toddlers become big kids. they live and love and share together.

once upon a time... think peter pan... it was completely common to have all munchkins together until they were of the age they needed their own private corner of the world. 

it's not quite as common anymore... but i love love love it.

at first,  i was photographing the room without them in it... 

but the room really sings as they enjoy it.

 their imagination fills this space, games are afoot, laughter is loud...

they are friends here. 

 the art wall.

the best way i could think of to give honor to their artistic output while setting limits on how many such precious masterpieces could get taped to the wall. :) 

underneath the art wall is the home of all things magnetic.

i cut and nailed aluminum sheeting to the wall and secured with trim. 

if you do this.. just bring a magnet with you to the home improvement store and make sure your sheeting is magnetic... depending on the metal content some is and some isn't.  

 i love that their is a designated home for random magnets that is not my fridge. 

plus... magnets are fun. :) 

i love this space.

i truly do.

it can make me sad to think that my nella won't get to  bask in the magic sunbeams that pour through this window in the morning. 

 

or get to play and romp her days away with her siblings in this room that they have shared together for so many days and nights.

but then i remember... all that love. all that work that i have poured into creating a space of joy...

it lives in their hearts.

and we are bringing those with us. :)

 the days in this room have been precious to me.

sweet baby cheeks that willowed out into lanky limbs.

laughter and tears. 

loves told. i'm sorry's said. 

 every game on God's green earth played.

at night i hear them... whispering, laughing, even praying together.

what  a joy.

how lucky i am.

the best things in this room?? 

they are all coming with me. :)